"Decoding Deepak" Trailer Tries to Unpack the Human Punchline

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Deepak Chopra was on the vanguard of the self-help movement, switching in the '80s from a successful medical career to espousing the virtues of transcendental meditation and Ayurveda. Over the past 25 years, he's become something of a joke while at the same time maintaining a huge influence.

Apparently Chopra's son, Gotham, is as puzzled by the old man as we are, because he recently spent a year traveling the world with him, making a documentary called "Decoding Deepak," which is about to have its premiere at SXSW. Let's take a look:

The closer the filmmaker is to the center of the film, the harder it is for the film to succeed, and Gotham is pretty clearly right in the bull's-eye. It's hard to make a film about your father, though Nathaniel Khan did a good job with "My Architect." But he had the "advantage" of his father being long dead by the time he made his film.

Anywho...Chopra's always seemed like a total weirdo, and this trailer does nothing to dispell that notion.